The tooth that was left in the cola was permanently stained likely because of the caramel colouring, while the tooth in the energy drink was eroded due to the acidic nature of the liquid.
But just whose teeth are these? They are wisdom teeth and they belong to Dr Tom Bierman, a dentist at the San Diego Dental Studio. Bierman used his own wisdom teeth which he extracted in his early 20s, conducted the experiment, then posted the results on Figure1, a website where doctors and medical professionals share images and get opinions from others.
The inspiration from the experiment came when Bierman read in a book, Rust: The Longest War by Jonathan Waldman, that one in seven energy drinks are too corrosive to be put in aluminium cans.
"I thought: if that's what these things can do to a can, what on erat are they doing to our teeth!?", he told Good Health.
While the cola was clearly damaging, it was the results of the energy drinks that really surprised Bierman. You see those lumps of dark pink on the tooth? That's enamel, the hard coating that protects the dentine underneath.
"The rust colour seems to be where the tooth was more yellow to begin with. The enamel on this tooth was crumbling away – it had been a lot more destructive," said Bierman.
While Bierman says the experiment wasn't the same as how one regularly consumes drinks, he says the damage could potentially add up to this if consumed daily or multiple times a week.
Another dentist agreed with Bierman, writing: "Over a long time, the results are the same or worse. I had a 28-year-old male with teeth decayed almost to the gum line and in terrible pain, thanks to daily consumption of energy drinks and fizzy drinks."
Anyone for a water?
